Railroad apparatus



Dec. 20, 1966 HUGHES 3,292,857

RAILROAD APPARATUS Filed March 5, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.KENNETH 0. HUGHES BY mw%m/ ,M/

ATTO RYNEYS Dec.- 20, 1966 y D. HUGHES 3,292,857

U RAILROAD APPARATUS Filed March 5, 1965 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.5 FIG. 6

INVENTOR.

KENNETH D. HUGHES 7 MW aw/M ATTORNEYS 3,292,857 RAILROAD APPARATUSKenneth D. Hughes, New City, N.Y., assignor to Abex Corporation, acorporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 5, 1965, Ser. No. 437,426 2 Claims.(Cl. 238-22) This invention relates to a rail stabilizing assembly forstabilizing the position of one railroad rail relative to anotherrailroad rail.

In many instances, a relatively sharp curve in the railway tracknecessitates the employment of a guard rail adjacent the trafiic rail toguide the car wheels about the track curvature, and the presentinvention is of particular utility for holding such a guard rail in aproper position relativeto the trafiic rail. The guard rail should beheld spaced from the traflic rail at a predetermined distance based oncalculations which take into account a number of factors including theamount of the curvature of the traffic rail. This distance determinesthe spacing between the rails for receiving the flange of the car wheeland is usually referred to as the flangeway or flangeway space.

During movement of a subway or railway car about such a curve, the carwheels thereof are guided about the curvature of the track by the guardrail which acts as a cam on the flange of the car wheel resisting itstendency to move in a straight line or tangential direction. As can beappreciated, the flange of the car wheel, as it is being forced to moveabout a curved path, exerts tremendous forces or thrusts on the guardrail, and a primary object of the present invention is a new andimproved guard rail stabilizing assembly capable of stabilizing theguard rail against the tremendous forces exerted thereon.

In addition to the problem of holding the guard rail against the largethrust forces exerted thereon by the car wheels being moved about thecurved track, a further problem arises in obtaining a relativelyconsistent amount of equal flangeway spacing because many rails,manufactured or fabricated under certain processes, do not possess thedesired smooth curvature. More specifically, a common method of bendingor curving a guard rail is the application of bending forces at aplurality of selected and separated points on a normally straight railwhich causes the rail to bend into a generally curved' condition. Aswill be appreciated, however, this manner of bending a guard rail doesnot generate a smooth or true arcuate curvature but results in a seriesof connected arcs having relatively flat portions, that is, almoststraight line chord portions. These fiat portions often cause anunavoidable variance in the flangeway spacing, and it is thereforeanother object of the present invention to afford a guard rail assemblyhaving the capability of forcing the guard rail to conform to a moregenerally consistent flangeway spacing with a trafiic rail by enablingsuflicient force to be exerted on the guard rail to bend the guard railto the proper spacing with the traflic rail.

A further object is a guard rail stabilizing assembly for limiting theflangeway spacing between the guard rail and the traflic rail by aunique flangeway block.

It has been proposed to provide a railway brace for the guard rail, butit has been found that the brace becomes worn and loosened and does notwithstand forces exerted on the brace by the car wheel moving about thecurved portion of the tratfic rail. Therefore, a further object of thepresent invention is a guard rail stabilizing assembly having a bolt orequivalent tie connected between the guard rail and the traffic rail tocomplement such a brace for holding the rail against the forces beingapplied by a railroad wheel.

A specific object of the invention is to stabilize a guard 3,292,857Patented Dec. 20, 1966 "ice rail by resorting to an assembly having abrace for the guard rail, a flangeway block disposed between the trafficrail and guard rail, and a bolt or the equivalent insorted through saidbrace and said flangeway block and tightened to hold said guard rail tothe proper distance from said traflic rail.

, A feature of the present invention is a flangeway block for use in aguard rail stabilizing assembly which block has opposing faces separatedby a first dimension for limiting the flangeway groove between thetraflic rail and the guard rail, and which has a second pair of opposingfaces separated by a second spacing so that the spacing between theguard rails can be altered merely by turning the flangeway block topresent the second pair of opposing faces to the guard and trafficrails.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent fromthe following description and claims and are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show a preferredembodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof and whatis now considered to be the best mode contemplated for applying theseprinciples. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same orequivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made asdesired by those skilled in the art without departing from the presentinvention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an end view of a railroad stabilizing device in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the rail stabilizing device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the rail brace portion of the railstabilizing device;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a flangeway block disposed between a pairof rails;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a flangeway block; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the flangeway block turned through 90 fromthe position of FIG. 4.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1, there isillustrated in cross-section a pair of rails secured relative to oneanother by a stabilizing device or assembly 10.. A typical installationfor rail stabilizing assembly 10 includes a first rail, hereinafteridentified as the guard rail G, and a second rail hereinafter identifiedas the traffic rail T. While only one rail stabilizing device isillustrated, it is to be understood that a plurality of stabilizingdevices are employed at selective intervals to hold the guard rail G ata fixed distance from the traflic rail T. .The rails G and T are, ofcourse, held to the ties by spikes or other conventional fasteningapparatus as well as by the stabilizing devices 10.

The distance between rails is commonly referred to as the flangeway andis designated by the character A, in FIG. 1. Each of the railstabilizing assemblies 10 has a base or tie plate 12 which is adapted torest on a railway tie. The tie plate 12 is secured thereto by spikes orbolts (not shown) inserted through spaced openings 13 at opposite endsof the tie plate 12.

The rail stabilizing assembly 10 is comprised of essentially three mainelements, namely, a brace means 15, a flangeway block 16, and a boltmeans 17. The bolt means 17 includes a nut 26 and a bolt 18 for securingtogether the brace means 15, the flangeway block 16, and the rails G andT. The bolt 18 has a head portion 20 and a shank portion 21. The shankportion 21 is inserted through an aperture 19 in the brace assembly 15,through a hole in the web of the guard rail G, a bore 24 in theflangeway block 16, and an aperture in the trafiic rail T to extend tothe opposite side of the traffic rail.

A threaded portion 25 on the bolt 18 has a nut26 threaded against alockw-asher 27 and is adapted to secure the assembly together. Themovement of the guard rail G and traflic rail T toward one another islimited by engagement of the respective rails with the flangeway block16. The flangeway block 16 engages the rails G and T at opposite, upperrail engaging faces 28 and at opposite lower rail engaging surfaces 29,as will be described in detail hereinafter.

, For the purpose of providing two different dimensions of flangewayspacings, nominally indicated as 1%" in FIG. 4, and nominally indicatedas 2" in FIG. 6, the flangeway block has a generally rectangular shape,as seen in the plan view of FIG. 5, with the distance between thesurf-ace 28 and 29 dimensioned so as to give the 1%" flangeway spacing Aand the dimensions between the opposed surfaces 28A and opposed 29A,FIG. 6, affording a 2 flangeway spacing A. Thus, the same flangewayblock 16 can be used to afford either a 1%" flangeway spacing or a 2"flangeway spacing, whichever is desired. It is to be understood that 1%"and 2" flange way spacings are exemplary of different flangeway spacingswhich may be afforded by different sizes of flangeway blocks 16 variedaccording to design needs.

One method of employing the flangeway block is to separate the rails atthe nominal 2" flangeway dimension when the rails are relatively new.After approxi mately a A of cumulative wear on the surfaces 30V and 31Vof the rails, FIG. 4, the flangeway spacing will be enlarged toapproximately 2% inches. To return the flangeway spacing to the nominal2" dimension, the flangeway block can be then turned 90 to dispose itssmaller width between the rails, and the guard rail G is moved closer tothe traffic rail until limited by the flangeway block 16, at whichposition the flangeway spacing will be returned to the 2" spacing.

The 2" spacing is afforded now by the A" wear of the rails, and the 1%"nominal spacing determined by the flangeway block 16. Preferably, theflangeway block 16 is stamped with the letters G, as shown in FIG. 5, toindicate the sides of the flangeway block 16 which are contoured toengage the guard rail G. The flange way blocks also are stamped withnumeral designations to indicate the nominal length of the flangewayspacing, which are shown in FIG. as the designations 1% and 2.

The flangeway block 16 has a rather complex shape in that it has a lowerportion 34 and four upstanding corners 35 extending upward from acentral body portion 36. The upstanding corners 35 extend above theplane 40, FIG. 6, of body portion 36 and thereby form flangeway grooves37, FIG. 4, and 38, FIG. 6, with their respectively opposite corners 35.The grooves 37 and 38 are at right angles to one another, and in FIG. 5the axes thereof are indicated by the reference characters 37' and 38'.

The lower portion 34 of the body 36 and the upstanding corners 35 of theflangeway block 16 extend outward from the body portion 36 of theflangeway block 16. Thus, the respective guard rail G and traflic rail Tare each engaged by the upper, vertical surfaces 28 or 28A and the lowersurfaces 29 or 29A Without touching the main body portion 36.

Such clearance is provided to afford a cavity for an embossed brand nameof the rail and to decrease the weight of the block. Preferably, theundersides of the lower portion 34 are sloped at 345 to rest on therespective flanges 32 and 33'of the respective guard rail G and traflicrail T. The upper surfaces of the shoulders 35 are sloped at 35S but arefree of contact with the undersides 32S and 33S of the heads 30 and 31of the guard rail G and traffic rails T, respectively. From anexamination of FIGS. 4 and 6, it will be seen that the guard rail G andtratfi-c rail T are each engaged near the juncture of the head and webof the rail by respecengageable with a vertical shoulder 52 on the tieplate 4 tive vertical surfaces 28 or 28A on the corners 35 and engagedby respective vertical surfaces 29 or 29A on the lower portion 34 nearthe base juncture of the web and the bases of the rails 32 and 33,respectively.

and T.

The central body portion 36 has a pair of intersecting bores 24 and 24A,FIG. 6, to receive .a bolt 18. When the flangeway block is in theposition of FIG. 4, the bore 24 is adapted to receive the bolt 18. Thebore 24A has a diameter equal to the diameter of the bore 24 and extendsat right angles to the bore 24. The bore 24A is adapted to receive thebolt 18 when the flangeway block 16 is in its nominal 2" position shownin FIG. 5.

It will be recalled that the flangeway block16 and bolt 18 cooperatewiththe brace means 15 to stabilize the guard rail G relative to thetraffic rail T. The brace means 15 is adapted to engage and to supportthe guard rail G on the side thereof opposite from the flangeway block16. The primary thrust of a flange of railway wheel (not shown) disposedin the flangeway opening A is against the surf-ace 30V, FIG. 1, of therail G while the tread of the wheelis rolling along the top surface 41of the traffic rail T. As is well known, the truck of the railroad caris guided about a curve by the flange of the railroad wheel engagingagainst the vertical side 30V of the guard rail G. The sharper the curvethe greater will be the force of the lateral thrust on the guard rail Gat the surface 30V tending to move the guard rail G away from thetraflic rail T. This lateral thrusttending to move the guard rail G awayfrom the trafiic rail T is divided between the bolt 17 and the bracemeans 15.

The brace means 15 includes a rail brace member 42,

FIGS. 1 and 3, which has an upstanding portion 43 disposed opposite theweb 22 of the guard rail G with an upper surface 44 disposed to engage acomplementary underside 45 of the head of the guard rail G.

trafiic rail G by a wedge member 50 of generally triangularconfiguration having a vertical wedge face 51 12. An opposite verticalwedge face 54 of the wedge member 50 engages an inclined wedge surface55 on the brace member 42. is generally parallel to the traffic rail Tand guard rail G while the Wedge faces 54 and 55 are inclined at anThus,

angle with respect to the guard rail and trafiic nail.

the wedge member 50 may be driven to engage and move the brace member 42relative to the fixed tie plate.

The upper surface 60 of the wedge 50 is provided with a plurality ofserrations or teeth 61 for locking engage ment with a cover member 62which has complementary serrations or teeth for disposition within theteeth 61 of the wedge member 50. The cover. plate 62 is pulleddownwardly tightly against the wedge 50 to hold the wedge 50 againstmovement by tightening nuts 64 and bolts 66 thereby clamping the covermember 62 tightly on the serrations 61 of the wedge 50. As seen in FIG.1,.

the bolts 66 extend downwardly from upper threaded ends extendingthrough apertures in cover members 62 and through aligned slots in the.rail brace member 42 to of the flangeway block 16. To prevent upwardmove-.

ment of the wedge 50 while the cover member 62 is Thus, it will be seenthat the rail G and T are unengaged at thinner medial portions of thewebs of the respective rails G,

The rail brace member 42 is wedged tightly against the The shoulder 52on thetie plate 12 loosened, the wedge 50 has a tongue and grooverelationship with the brace member. More particularly, a longitudinaltongue 70 on the brace member 42 inserted in a longitudinal groove 72 inthe wedge, FIG. 3.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the force applied by the flangeof the railroad wheel against the surface 50 of the traflic rail G isresisted by the bolt means 17 as Well as the brace means 15 disposedagainst the shoulder 52 of the tie plate 12. The weight of the railroadcar wheel on the traflic rail T holds the trafiic rail T against liftingunder the force exerted thereon by the bolt means 17. It has been foundthat the brace means 15 by itself does not afford sulficient stabilityto the guard rail G for a suitable period inasmuch as it wears andbecomes loose within too short a period of time. Similarly, theemployment of only the bolt means 17 without a brace means 15 will notstand up under prolonged use and against the tremendous forces appliedthereto. However, it has been found that the combination of the boltmeans 17 and brace means 15 and flangeway block 16 divides the forcesapplied to the guard rail G to give sufiicient rigidity and stability towithstand the forces for a relatively long period of time.

An additional and important advantage of the present invention is thecapability of forcing or bending of the guard rail to assume the correctspace with the trafiic rail T under the force of the assembly 10. Asstated hereinbefore, the guard rails often are not smoothly curved.Thus, it is often desirable to force the guard rails to assume a moreperfect curve relationship and thereby to afford a more consistentflangeway spacing A between the t-raflic rail T and guard rail G. Tothis end, the stabilizing assembly is able to exert suflicient force onthe guard rail G to move or bend the guard rail G when bringing theguard rail G tightly against the flangeway block 16. The flangeway block16 limits the movement of the guard rail G to the desired flangewayspacing. Moreover, the same flangeway block 16 is capable of being usedfor two different sizes of flangeway spacing. Alternatively the sameflangeway block 16 can be employed with the brace and bolt means tore-establish the flangeway spacing after the guard rail has worn by adistance approximately equal to the difference in distance between thefaces 28 and 29.

Hence, while I have illustrated and described the preferred embodimentof the invention, it is to be understood that this is capable ofvariation and modification, and I therefore do not wish to be limited tothe precise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of suchchanges and alterations as fall within the purview of the followingclaims.

I claim:

1. In an assembly for bringing a guard rail into proper spacing from atrafiic rail and for holding said spacing against the thrust of arailroad wheel having a flange disposed in a flangeway between saidguard rail and traffic rail, said assembly comprising: block meansadapted to be disposed between said guard rail and said traffic rail andhaving surfaces thereon for engagement with said guard rail and saidtraflic rail to limit relative movement of said guard rail toward saidtrafiic rail, base means adapted to be secured to a railway tie, anadjustable brace means secured to said base means and adjustable to movesaid guard rail tight against said block means to bring said guard railinto the flangeway spacing with said tral'fic rail as defined by saidblock means, bolt means adapted to be extended through apertures in saidtraffic rail in said block means and in said guard rail to hold saidguard rail against movement relative to said trafiic rail therebyassisting said adjustable brace means in holding said guard rail againstthe thrust thereon by a railroad Wheel, said block means having firstand second sets of opposed side walls presenting first and second setsof vertical faces for selectively engaging the guard rail and trafficrail, the rail engaging faces presented by the first set of opposed sidewalls being separated by a first predetermined spacing for limiting theflangeway separation between said rails, and the rail engaging facespresented by the second of opposed side walls being separated by asecond and different predetermined spacing, and said block means beingformed on the upper side thereof with intersecting first and secondflangeway grooves respectively joining said first and second sets ofvertical rail engaging faces, and said block means having a pair ofintersecting apertures therein extending between said sets of opposedside Walls for selectively receiving said bolt means.

2. A separating block means for use in a guard rail stabilizingassembly, said block means having a first set of opposed vertical sidewalls and a second set of opposed vertical side walls, said first set ofopposed side walls having portions respectively adapted to engage theweb on a trafiic rail and the web of a guard rail and being spaced at afirst predetermined distance, said second set of opposed side wallshaving portions spaced at a second predetermined distance andrespectively adapted for engaging said web of said guard rail and saidweb of said traflic rail, said block means having an opening extendingbetween said first set of opposed side Walls for receiving a securingbolt when said first set of opposed side walls have portions disposedfor engagement with said rails, said block means having a second openingextending between said second set of opposed side walls for receiving asecuring bolt when said second set of opposed side walls have portionsdisposed for engagement with said rails, said block means having a firstflangeway groove extending between said first set of opposed side wallsand said block having a second flangeway groove extending between saidsecond set of opposed side Walls.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,463,319 7/ 1923Hohman 238-21 2,223,865 12/ 1940 Arnold 238-292 2,235,248 3/ 1941Asselin 238l7 2,250,891 7/1941 Martin 23 8292 3,220,651 ll/ 1965 Mahood23 8292 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner. R. A. BERTSCH, AssistantExaminer.

1. IN AN ASSEMBLY FOR BRINGING A GUARD RAIL INTO PROPER SPACING FROM ATRAFFIC RAIL AND FOR HOLDING SAID SPACING AGAINST THE THRUST OF ARAILROAD WHEEL HAVING A FLANGE DISPOSED IN A FLANGEWAY BETWEEN SAIDGUARD RAIL AND TRAFFIC RAIL, SAID ASSEMBLY COMPRISING: BLOCK MEANSADAPTED TO BE DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID GUARD RAIL AND SAID TRAFFIC RAIL ANDHAVING SURFACES THEREON FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID GUARD RAIL AND SAIDTRAFFIC RAIL TO LIMIT RELATIVE MOVEMENT OF SAID GUARD RAIL TOWARD SAIDTRAFFIC RAIL, BASE MEANS ADAPTED TO BE SECURED TO A RAILWAY TIE, ANADJUSTABLE BRACE MEANS SECURED TO SAID BASE MEANS AND ADJUSTABLE TO MOVESAID GUARD RAIL TIGHT AGAINST SAID BLOCK MEANS TO BRING SAID GUARD RAILINTO THE FLANGEWAY SPACING WITH SAID TRAFFIC RAIL AS DEFINED BY SAIDBLOCK MEANS, BOLT MEANS ADATPED TO BE EXTENDED THROUGH APERTURES IN SAIDTRAFFIC RAIL IN SAID BLOCK MEANS AND IN SAID GUARD RAIL TO HOLD SAIDGUARD RAIL AGAINST MOVEMENT RELATIVE TO SAID TRAFFIC RAIL THEREBYASSISTING SAID ADJUSTABLE BRACE MEANS IN HOLDING SAID GUARD RAIL AGAINSTTHE THRUST THEREON BY A RAILROAD WHEEL, SAID BLOCK MEANS HAVING FIRSTAND SECOND SETS OF OPPOSED SIDE WALLS PRESENTING FIRST AND SECOND SETSOF VERTICAL FACES FOR SELECTIVELY ENGAGING THE GUARD RAIL AND TRAFFICRAIL, THE RAIL ENGAGING FACES PRESENTED BY THE RAIL SET OF OPPOSED SIDEWALLS BEING SEPARATED BY A FIRST PREDETERMINED SPACING FOR LIMITING THEFLANGEWAY SEPARATION BETWEEN SAID RAILS, AND THE RAIL ENGAGING FACESPRESENTED BY THE SECOND OF OPPOSED SIDE WALLS BEING SEPARATED BY ASECOND AND DIFFERENT PREDETERMINED SPACING, AND SAID BLOCK MEANS BEINGFORMED ON THE UPPER SIDE THEREOF WITH INTERSECTING FIRST AND SECONDFLANGEWAY GROOVES RESPECTIVELY JOINING SAID FIRST AND SECOND SETS OFVERTICAL RAIL ENGAGEMENT FACES, AND SAID BLOCK MEANS HAVING A PAIR OFINTERSECTING APERTURES THEREIN EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID SETS OF OPPOSEDSIDE WALLS FOR SELECTIVELY RECEIVING SAID BOLT MEANS.